Drug Commission Formally Opposes Medical Marijuana

Posted November 10, 2017

The Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse voted on Nov. 9 in favor of a resolution opposing the decriminalization of marijuana.

The Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse voted Thursday to formally oppose the decriminalization of marijuana in any form. The resolution that came one day after Gov. Eric Holcomb took the same stance.

Two members of the commission asked that it take a stand against medical marijuana in Indiana, according to the commission’s executive director Jim McClelland.

In a vote, 11 members supported the resolution, three members abstained, and two voted against it. Executive director Jim McClelland says while there is research on the benefits of medical marijuana, there isn’t FDA approval or clinical trials.

“We were asked to take a position, the governor has stated his position on it. Our position is very much in line with the governor’s,” McClelland says.

One of those who opposed taking a position was state Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis), who argued it was outside the scope of the commission’s purpose.

“If it helps them, I think that’s what we’re here as public policy makers to do, to try to find more things – put more tools in the toolbox to help people,” Taylor says.

One of the 11 who supported the resolution was state Health Commissioner Kristina Box. She cited a state health department study that shows 20 percent of mothers who have a history of using drugs or show symptoms of drug use at delivery tested positive for marijuana use.

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